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Germany is unlikely to introduce radical changes to its pension system, according to its minister for Labour and Social Affairs, who argued that the government should only provide the legal underpinning for agreements struck independently by the country’s social partners.

Addressing the aba annual conference in Berlin, Andrea Nahles said she viewed her next big “construction project” instead as increasing occupational pension (bAV) coverage among the country’s numerous small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The minister, a member of the social democratic party (SPD), also said that while the brief mention within the coalition agreement to strengthen the bAV might sound “banal”, the wording was more a result of attempts to reach an agreement despite time pressure during negotiations.

Nahles added that the industry should see the lack of detail on bAV reform as an opportunity.

“This opens up the possibility – as it is not agreed in detail, unlike the case with the minimum wage – for us to take on board ideas, and I invite you, the aba, to do just that,” she said.

She said she viewed the first pillar as the most important part of retirement provision in Germany, and pointed to the losses incurred by savers during the financial crisis when wholly reliant on funded pension provision.

“What we have in Germany is a healthy mixture – of the state-funded, occupational and private, the Riester pension,” she said.

“We will not reform the system, in the sense that the basic set-up of the system will not change. If reforms are introduced, then it will be in the shape of changes to the system.”

The minister said the government’s stance would allow for security of retirement planning.

“The important and right pension reforms have already been introduced,” she said.